New US carry-on restrictions for electronic devices in flights from a number of airlines and airports have been implemented as an added security measure against terrorist attacks.
Starting Tuesday March 21st at 07:00 GMT, a number of airlines from the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey travelling into the US will have 96 hours to comply with a new set of regulations. After that, their passengers will face restrictions regarding the electronic devices they are allowed to carry in their cabin luggage. With the exception of medical equipment, passengers will have to check all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone.
This measure comes as a response to the ever more “innovative methods” of carrying out terror attacks in the context of commercial aviation.
Here is the list of affected airlines:
Royal Jordanian
Egypt Air
Turkish Airlines
Saudi Arabian Airlines
Kuwait Airways
Royal Air Maroc
Qatar Airways
Emirates
Etihad Airways
And these are the affected airports:
Queen Alia International, Amman, Jordan
Cairo International Airport, Egypt
Ataturk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey
King Abdulaziz International, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
King Khalid International, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Kuwait International Airport
Mohammed V International, Casablanca, Morocco
Hamad International, Doha, Qatar
Dubai International, United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi International, United Arab Emirates
While this will affect the comfort of all passengers in general — as not even laptops or tablets will be allowed in the cabin — this poses a great challenge for members of our industry in particular. Not only film crews but also photographers travelling with one of these airlines or out of the affected airports will have to face checking their cameras and other valuable electronic equipment. This of course translates as more checked luggage, which in turn means a higher cost.
On the plus side, this should give you a bit more room in your carry-on luggage to store those spare lithium ion batteries! (Remember, spare batteries are not allowed in the hold. You can only check lithium ion batteries if they are installed in a device. See this FAA chart for reference).
Could the new US cabin baggage restrictions mean the luggage for your next trip looks like this?
There is no planned end to these restrictions as of yet, so it may really be a case of starting to stock up on Peli cases if your travel plans are affected.
UPDATE: The UK has now also implemented similar restrictions on inbound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, and even affects airlines such as British Airways and EasyJet.
Sources: BBC, The Guardian.
Will your work be affected by the new restrictions? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Don’t say you haven’t been warned about batteries in planes before, but this incident proves that batteries can pose a real danger on airplanes:
The news was only just published by ABC Australia, but on April 26 this year, there was a fire in the cargo hold of a plane that was about to take off from Melbourne airport to Nadi (Fiji). Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigated and found that the smoke came from some kind of Pelicase type suitcase which contained lithium-polymer batteries for a camera drone.